But their habitat is threatened by bottom trawling in the region and Trump’s plan to expand seafloor mining

Scientists have discovered nine new deep-sea sponge species off Alaska, offering new insights into the region’s largely unexplored marine biodiversity.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) announced the discovery on Thursday, saying the species were found in the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. The findings bring the total number of known sponge species in Alaska to 232.

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The US Supreme Court is ​still weighing the administration’s ⁠request to ​overturn a separate ​order ​blocking the ​rule

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Leaders of the Kennedy Center who have sought to add president Donald Trump’s name to the storied institution say it is facing bankruptcy and possible closure in days, the Washington Post reports.

According to documents obtained by the paper, the center’s board of trustees is expected to vote on Tuesday on whether to close the main building of Washington’s performing arts center, due to financial and safety needs.

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Recent social media lawsuits have addressed concerns about mental health. But what about its cognitive effects?

A few years ago, when I’d just started graduate work, I was waiting with a grandmother finishing a questionnaire I’d handed her about her 19-year-old granddaughter who was in the testing room next door. They were participating in a study that used brain imaging to look at adolescent development. The older woman had a soft southern accent and a warm laugh.

“What’s funny?” I asked.

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Leaders in Pando region denounce opaque deals over carbon credits as government and companies rush to monetise Amazon rainforest after 2024 ruling

In the village plazas of Pando, a remote northern Amazonian region of Bolivia, the main talk is no longer just about the next harvest. One pressing issue is the “invisible air” being sold to foreigners who regularly visit their communities.

In June 2024, the country’s constitutional court struck down the ban on a funding mechanism linked to carbon markets. Since then, Indigenous leaders of three ethnic groups – the Tacana, Ese Ejja and Cabineño – have complained about companies and foundations that arrive with offers of “climate solutions”, often during the ever more frequent droughts or floods.

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Mainstream figures have been enabling anti-Muslim racism, creating the ideal conditions for the rise of hard-right political parties

Five years ago, many Muslims wondered if the prejudices they faced were set to fade away. The “war on terror” was dwindling in prominence, and new enemies such as Russia seemed to be displacing fears of Islamic terrorism. Yet Britain’s Islamophobia has only intensified since then. A poll published in July found that two out of five Britons believe Muslims cannot integrate into British society. Earlier in the summer, it was reported that more than half of Muslims in Britain had personally experienced anti-Islam prejudice in the last year, and a quarter in a public place.

The evidence of a worsening climate for Muslims has been mounting since two summers ago, when racist riots erupted across the UK, targeting mosques and asylum hostels. Watching videos of those events, I was disturbed by the parents who brought their young children to watch while mobs attempted, with apparently murderous intent, to break into the buildings. It was not only hardened far-right activists but a much broader cross-section of British society that was willing to participate in racist violence directed at Muslims or asylum seekers assumed to be Muslim.

Arun Kundnani is editorial director of Monthly Review Press

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

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You’re going to spend a lot of time in your uni room – so don’t just dump your boxes and run. Here’s how to make that space work for you

Uni means many hours cramming in the library and equally as many partying, but there is also a surprising amount of downtime – so a bedroom that is enticing to hang out in is key. Whether it’s in halls, a house share or your family home, here’s how to make even the most basic of spaces more special.

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DEN HAAG (ANP) - Stichting Donorkind overweegt namens een aantal ouders en kinderen die gedupeerd zijn door massadonor Simon juridische stappen tegen de man te ondernemen. Volgens de stichting is dat de wens van dertig ouders. Eerst krijgt de man een brief met een uitnodiging voor een gesprek, om een rechtsgang te vermijden.

De stichting meldt dat eerdere spijtbetuigingen van de donor en toezeggingen om te gaan stoppen met doneren de reden zijn om eerst in gesprek te gaan. Donorkind wil afspraken maken, zodat Simon daadwerkelijk niet meer doneert en alle ouders informeert. Doet hij dat niet, dan moet een boete volgen. Ook willen de ouders een schadevergoeding. Als dat niet in overleg lukt, wil de stichting dit alsnog afdwingen in de rechtbank.

Dat lukte in 2023 ook, toen in een zaak tegen massadonor Jonathan Meijer. Die moet een boete van een ton betalen als hij toch doneert. Meijer had gelogen over het aantal kinderen dat hij verwekt had. Ook Simon zou dit volgens Stichting Donorkind hebben gedaan.

Ties van der Meer, voorzitter van Stichting Donorkind, zegt met deze stap te doen wat "overheid en klinieken hebben nagelaten". Hij laat weten dat de ingreep helpt om kinderen te beschermen. Doordat ouders elkaar leren kennen en omdat de kinderen nu al op jonge leeftijd kunnen leren omgaan met een grote groep halfbroers en -zussen. Van der Meer noemt dit "een kans" voor Simon om verantwoordelijkheid te nemen voor de kinderen die hij heeft verwekt.

Even snel langs de zelfscan, boodschappen in de tas en naar huis. Maar dan blijkt bij een controle dat die ene komkommer, avocado of fles shampoo niet op het bonnetje staat. Ben je dan meteen een winkeldief? Dat ligt een stuk ingewikkelder. En de mogelijke financiële gevolgen zijn inmiddels behoorlijk fors: winkeliers kunnen bij winkeldiefstal 242 euro schadevergoeding eisen.

Dat bedrag is nadrukkelijk geen boete van de overheid. Het gaat om een vergoeding voor de kosten die een winkel maakt wanneer personeel tijd kwijt is aan het afhandelen van een diefstal. Jarenlang bedroeg die 181 euro. Dat tarief stamde uit 2012 en is inmiddels verhoogd.

Vergeten is nog geen stelen

Wie iets niet scant, heeft daarmee juridisch niet automatisch een winkeldiefstal gepleegd. Voor diefstal is opzet belangrijk: was je daadwerkelijk van plan het product mee te nemen zonder ervoor te betalen?

Dat onderscheid is bij zelfscankassa’s niet altijd eenvoudig. Voor het betalen vraagt het scherm doorgaans of alle boodschappen zijn gescand. Wie vervolgens doorgaat terwijl er iets ontbreekt, heeft dus wel iets uit te leggen. Toch kan een vergissing nog steeds een vergissing zijn.

Daarbij telt vooral het totaalplaatje. Wie netjes 45 euro aan boodschappen afrekent en één goedkoop artikel mist, staat er anders voor dan iemand met een overvolle kar die slechts een tientje heeft afgerekend. Ook het soort product kan meewegen. Een klein artikel verdwijnt gemakkelijker uit het zicht dan een enorme verpakking wasmiddel.

Zelfs camerabeelden kunnen relevant zijn. Daarop kan bijvoorbeeld te zien zijn dat iemand tijdens het scannen wordt afgeleid door een kind, een telefoontje of ander gedoe.

En die 242 euro dan?

Een winkel hoeft die schadevergoeding dus niet bij iedere gemiste scan automatisch te eisen. In de praktijk kan een klant soms simpelweg het vergeten product alsnog afrekenen. Hoe de winkel reageert, hangt af van de omstandigheden.

Daarnaast staat de schadevergoeding los van een eventuele aangifte. Een winkelier kan ook de politie inschakelen. Vervolgens is het aan politie en justitie wat daarmee gebeurt. Bij weinig bewijs of een gering incident kan worden besloten de zaak niet verder te vervolgen.

De belangrijkste les voor fervente zelfscanners is daarmee simpel: controleer je bon voordat je vertrekt. Want een verstrooide scanbeurt hoeft geen diefstal te zijn, maar je wilt liever niet bij de uitgang moeten uitleggen waarom die fles wijn van 12 euro wonderbaarlijk genoeg nooit langs de scanner is gekomen.

Bron: RTL Nieuws

LONDEN (ANP) - De nationalistische leiders van Schotland, Wales en Noord-Ierland willen intensiever samenwerken in hun streven het Verenigd Koninkrijk te verlaten en aansluiting te zoeken bij de EU. "We geloven dat de toekomst van onze landen in de Europese Unie ligt", schrijven John Swinney, Rhun ap Iorwerth en Michelle O'Neill in een verklaring. Ze stellen dat de Brexit heeft geleid tot economische schade.

De drie voerden overleg in Cardiff en stelden naderhand dat het de eerste keer is dat hun gebieden allemaal worden bestuurd door separatistische leiders. "Elk van onze landen heeft het recht om zijn eigen toekomst te bepalen, via democratische middelen", stellen de Eerste Ministers. Die roepen de Britse regering op daaraan mee te werken.

Schotland, Wales en Noord-Ierland vormen samen met Engeland, dat de grootste bevolking heeft, het Verenigd Koninkrijk. Schotland hield in 2014 een referendum over onafhankelijkheid. Daar was toen geen meerderheid voor.

SANAA (ANP/AFP) - De Jemenitische Houthi's zeggen tientallen aanvallen te hebben uitgevoerd op militaire voorzieningen in Saudi-Arabië. De groep meldt dat deze aanvallen een reactie zijn op Saudische luchtaanvallen op Jemen.

De aanvallen zijn uitgevoerd op de luchtmachtbasis King Khalid in Khamis Mushait, volgens Houthi-woordvoerder Yahya Saree. Saree beschuldigt Saudi-Arabië ervan vanuit de luchtmachtbases in Khamis Mushait en Taif honderden aanvallen te hebben uitgevoerd op Jemen.

De Saudische kroonprins Mohammed bin Salman ontmoette maandag de Amerikaanse admiraal Brad Cooper, melden Saudische staatsmedia. De twee zouden regionale ontwikkelingen hebben besproken. De ontmoeting vindt plaats enkele dagen nadat de Saudische kroonprins president Donald Trump om militaire steun had gevraagd. Dit meldden drie bronnen aan persbureau Reuters. Trump weigerde aanvallen uit te voeren op de Houthi's, maar zou wel hulp hebben aangeboden bij de inlichtingen.

Het geweld tussen de door Iran gesteunde Houthi's en Saudi-Arabië laaide in juli weer op. Sinds begin september raakten 82.000 mensen in Jemen ontheemd, volgens de Internationale Organisatie voor Migratie. Door een tekort aan noodhulp wordt minder dan 10 procent van de behoefte aan onderdak gedekt, meldt hulporganisatie CARE, die actief is in Jemen. Ook is er geen hulp voor meer dan duizend gezinnen die dringend voedsel nodig hebben, zegt de organisatie.

UTRECHT (ANP) - Schoonmakers gaan deze week van maandag tot en met vrijdag staken op Schiphol, stations en andere plekken in Nederland, kondigt vakbond FNV aan. Daarmee protesteren ze tegen een cao die vakbond CNV en werkgeversorganisatie Schoonmakend Nederland hebben afgesloten. Ongeveer 10 procent van alle schoonmakers is lid van de grootste vakbond van Nederland, zegt FNV-bestuurder Caroline Lamberts.

British bank Revolut exposed sensitive customer information after falling for fraudulent requests sent from a legitimate government agency's email domain. In a statement shared with The Register, Revolut confirmed the attack, but did not specify how many customers were affected. The company also did not provide a list of affected data types. However, blockchain investigator ZachXBT, who shared Revolut's customer notifications on Friday, claimed the exposed information includes know-your-customer (KYC) data. Whichever identity document customers submitted as part of the account registration process – passport or driver's license – was compromised, as was the verification selfie submitted through the app, according to the shared emails. The notifications also list account statements, IBANs, withdrawal records, and full transaction histories, including Bitcoin transactions, among the exposed data. Other exposed details include full names, dates of birth, home and email addresses, phone numbers, and occupations. Sources close to the fintech say only a small proportion of its customers were impacted. They say ongoing investigations and confidentiality obligations prevent Revolut from providing further details. Revolut said it exposed the data to an unauthorized third party after they submitted requests from a genuine government agency's email domain. The company, which received approval to launch its UK bank in March, did not identify the government agency, but said it informed the relevant officials of the findings. "Revolut recently identified a sophisticated external impersonation scam where an unauthorised third party utilised a legitimate government agency domain email to submit fraudulent requests for information," the spokesperson said. "Upon detection, we immediately blocked the address and alerted the relevant government agency as well as enforcement agencies, data protection, and financial regulators. Revolut systems and customer funds are unaffected. "We have contacted the limited number of impacted individuals directly to inform them and provide support." People claiming responsibility for the attack have posted in multiple Telegram groups. Posts seen by The Register include snippets of data that appear to belong to high-profile individuals, including CEOs, sports professionals, and performing artists. The posters are also threatening to release "more and more data every day until Revolut pays for leaking their customers," and are demanding 10,000 Bitcoin as a ransom, equivalent to more than $782 million. Revolut did not comment on the alleged ransom demands when asked. The company currently serves more than 80 million personal customers globally, as well as more than 800,000 businesses. Its co-founder and CEO, Nik Storonsky, has hinted at taking the fintech public, but not before 2028, with a target valuation of around $200 billion. ®

Het is een klassiek geval van een ongeluk in een klein hoekje. Een tram raakt een bestelbus. Het busje schiet vooruit de stoep op en botst tegen een voetganger. De 70-jarige vrouw is zwaargewond. De grote vraag: is er iemand schuldig?

Fred Vasseur has given his thoughts on Ferrari’s performance in the Spanish Grand Prix, which saw Charles Leclerc finish P4 after Lewis Hamilton retired.

Met het thema Our Songs Came Through kiest BredaPhoto Festival deze editie vooral voor verhalen over troost en veerkracht. Het is opvallend in hoeveel projecten die troost gezocht wordt in wat ‘thuis’ wordt genoemd. Niet alleen in een fysiek thuis, maar ook in familie, in moeders en in vaders.

Weer voor Rotterdam ☁️ - 14-09-2026 13:16 CEST

In één oogopslag:
• 19.1°C · Bewolkt ☁️ | Min 16.3°C / Max 21.5°C | Kans op neerslag 18%

Verwachting voor vandaag:
• Min 16.3°C, Max 21.5°C (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 0.5 mm, Kans op neerslag 18%, 🧭 1021.9 hPa ↘️ -0.7 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 12.6 km/u (3.5 m/s), richting: ↑ 200°

Uurlijkse voorspelling voor de komende 12 uur:

• 14:00: 19.6°C (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 0.1 mm, Kans op neerslag 96%, 🧭 1022.6 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 12.6 km/u (3.5 m/s), richting: ↗ 234°
• 15:00: 20.8°C (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 0.1 mm, Kans op neerslag 86%, 🧭 1022.4 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 10.4 km/u (2.9 m/s), richting: ↗ 246°
• 16:00: 21.2°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 60%, 🧭 1022.4 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 11.9 km/u (3.3 m/s), richting: → 248°
• 17:00: 21.4°C (Zonnig) ☀️, Kans op neerslag 37%, 🧭 1022.1 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 10.1 km/u (2.8 m/s), richting: ↗ 240°
• 18:00: 21.5°C (Gedeeltelijk bewolkt) ⛅, Kans op neerslag 22%, 🧭 1021.8 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 10.4 km/u (2.9 m/s), richting: ↗ 227°
• 19:00: 21.2°C (Zonnig) ☀️, Kans op neerslag 10%, 🧭 1021.5 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 10.4 km/u (2.9 m/s), richting: ↗ 237°
• 20:00: 20.5°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 2%, 🧭 1021.7 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 10.8 km/u (3.0 m/s), richting: ↗ 241°
• 21:00: 20.0°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1021.8 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 12.6 km/u (3.5 m/s), richting: ↗ 226°
• 22:00: 19.8°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1021.6 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 11.9 km/u (3.3 m/s), richting: ↗ 224°
• 23:00: 19.7°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1021.3 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 12.6 km/u (3.5 m/s), richting: ↗ 211°
• 00:00: 19.7°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1020.9 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 10.8 km/u (3.0 m/s), richting: ↗ 211°
• 01:00: 19.5°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1020.6 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 12.2 km/u (3.4 m/s), richting: ↗ 209°

Voorspelling voor de komende dagen:

• dinsdag 15 september: Min 17.8°C, Max 22.5°C (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 0.2 mm, Kans op neerslag 8%, 🧭 1016.6 hPa ↘️ -5.3 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 17.6 km/u (4.9 m/s), richting: ↗ 238°
• woensdag 16 september: Min 13.3°C, Max 18.2°C (Lichte regen) 🌧️, Neerslag 3.7 mm, Kans op neerslag 49%, 🧭 1014.8 hPa ↘️ -1.8 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 15.1 km/u (4.2 m/s), richting: → 286°
• donderdag 17 september: Min 13.0°C, Max 17.3°C (Zware motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 5.9 mm, Kans op neerslag 44%, 🧭 1010.5 hPa ↘️ -4.3 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 21.5 km/u (6.0 m/s), richting: ↗ 216°
• vrijdag 18 september: Min 12.5°C, Max 16.9°C (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 1.2 mm, Kans op neerslag 30%, 🧭 1008.8 hPa ↘️ -1.7 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 21.7 km/u (6.0 m/s), richting: ↗ 235°
• zaterdag 19 september: Min 14.6°C, Max 20.2°C (Matige motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 4.0 mm, Kans op neerslag 37%, 🧭 1013.3 hPa ↗️ +4.5 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 19.9 km/u (5.5 m/s), richting: ↗ 237°
• zondag 20 september: Min 13.7°C, Max 17.6°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 17%, 🧭 1024.2 hPa ↗️ +10.9 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 15.1 km/u (4.2 m/s), richting: → 268°

Details:
• 🌡️ Huidige temperatuur (om 13:15): 19.1°C (Bewolkt)
• 🤚 Gevoelstemperatuur: 21.1°C (+2.0°C)
• 💨 Windsnelheid: 11.5 km/u (3.2 m/s), richting: ↗ 203°
• 🌬️ Windstoten: 23.4 km/h (6.5 m/s)
• 💧 Luchtvochtigheid: 96%
• 🧭 Luchtdruk: 1022.6 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/3h
• 👁️ Zichtbaarheid: 3.4 km
• ☀️ UV-index: 3.9
• 🌅 Zonsopgang: 07:14 · 🌇 Zonsondergang: 19:59

Luchtkwaliteit:
• AQI: 40 🟢 (Goed)
• PM2.5: 10.1 μg/m³
• PM10: 13.8 μg/m³

Gegevens geleverd door Open-Meteo

#Rotterdam #Meteo #MeteoBot #MeteoNetherlands #OpenMeteo #FediMeteo

Gevallen icoon uit de tijd dat politiek nog leuk was: Tara Singh Varma is dood. Eigenlijk zou ze rond 2001 al doodgaan, maar dat ze kanker had en daarom de Tweede Kamer moest verlaten was allemaal verzonnen. Daar gaf ze eerst 'extreemrechts' de schuld van, en daarna de Tros, daarna was ze zielig ('er zaten nog weinig allochtonen in de politiek') en toen was het iets als 'een angstsyndroom en een psycho-organisch syndroom, wat inhoudt dat lichamelijke klachten de psyche uit balans brengen'. Dat klinkt hartstikke normaal GroenLinks. "Toenmalig Kamerlid Femke Halsema zei later dat de partij eerdere signalen over de onwaarheid van Singh Varma's beweringen niet goed had durven onderzoeken uit angst voor het verwijt van racisme." Singh Varma, die ook meermaals in opspraak raakte door financieel geknoei, bleef na haar politieke afscheid onder de radar - zo werkte ze nog even in een Surinaamse broodjeszaak. Ze is 78 jaar oud geworden.

Once a month, Microsoft pushes a security update to all Windows users. Tomorrow’s is a new record:

Microsoft’s patch for September is a doozy, with a record number of roughly 972 vulnerabilities fixed and 112 of them meeting the high critical-severity threshold.

It was only two months ago that Microsoft patched a then-record 570 vulnerabilities. Then, last month, Microsoft patched some 620 of them. Google and other companies have also published record numbers of vulnerabilities in recent months. Two weeks ago, OpenAI, Anthropic, Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft, and 100 companies and organizations published an open letter warning of a narrowing window for patching vulnerabilities ahead of an expected tsunami of AI-enabled attacks that actively exploit them first. The industry is taking the threat seriously by pumping out unprecedented numbers of patches in their software.

This is the result of AI-powered vulnerability finding, and a good example of AI helping the defenders more than the attackers.

What will be interesting to watch is how the number of vulnerabilities changes over the next few months. My prediction is that it will continue to increase as the AIs get better at finding software vulnerabilities, and then decrease as they run out of vulnerabilities to find. How high the number gets, how fast the trend reverses, and how quickly it declines after that are all unknown.

And Microsoft is right: The window to patch has shrunk to “immediately.” AIs are also good at reverse-engineering exploits from patches, which means that these vulnerabilities will be weaponized as soon as the update is published.

Today's links

• But do you use keyboard shortcuts?: AI people are WEIRD.
• Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
• Object permanence: "Changeling"; Sony Rootkit vs CD drives; Google's scumbag lobbyists; NJ's e-voting coverup; Spying sex toys; Scott Walker dark money leak; "REAMDE"; Snowden's pardon.
• Upcoming appearances: Budapest, Edmonton, South Bend, Hudson, Calgary, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Victoria, Ottawa.
• Recent appearances: Where I've been.
• Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
• Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
• Colophon: All the rest.

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But do you use keyboard shortcuts? (permalink)

Of all the weird recurring motifs of the stories people tell me about the AI labor wars, the weirdest is when bosses demand to be reassured that their contractors and workers will absolutely use AI to get the job done.

That's weird for the obvious reason that for most people "AI" is a synonym for "low quality." No one ever said "My kid's math teacher was replaced with AI" in a happy tone of voice. No one ever said, "Oh, great, they replaced their customer service department with AI chatbots!" My teenager and her friends use "That's so AI" as a shorthand for "That's low-effort shit."

Not bosses, though. Bosses love AI and there's plenty of evidence that they're positively harassing the people who work for them with demands to use AI in their work:

https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/1weztw9/anyone_elses_boss_obsessed_with_chatgpt/

Beyond the widespread belief that AI is what you use if you don't care about quality, insisting that people use AI is weird for another reason: why should anyone care which tool was used to do the job? I mean, provided the job was accomplished correctly, on time and to budget, why would anyone care how it was done? My illustrator friends whose clients want to be assured that the work is being done "with AI" were never before asked "Did you use a Wacom tablet to draw these lines? Did this element start life as a vector or as rasters? Are you more into using cage transforms, or do you like to stroke the image with the warp tool?"

It's not just illustrators. I've heard this from bookkeepers. "Please tell me you got a chatbot to help you with the syntax for this Excel macro" is a genuinely weird thing to ask someone. By all means, concern yourself with whether the accounts are correct, but caring about how the macros are written is like caring about whether someone jots notes to themselves by tabbing to a new document window or by scribbling on a yellow pad by the keyboard.

I've heard this from writers, architects…all kinds of professionals. "Did you use AI to help you outline this?" What a stupid thing to ask a writer! That's like asking "Do you use keyboard shortcuts, or do you mouse over the Word ribbon and click on the little scissors icon when you want to cut some text?" The actual, finished document is right in front of you. Is it a good document? Are those good words? Why are you concerning yourself with the writer's pencil-sharpening technique?

There's precedent for this: indeed, it's the very origin of management consulting. The first management consultants were the Taylorists; these were con artists that charged bosses vast sums of money to stand over workers with stopwatches, timing each step of their jobs to the instant in order to produce a mandatory choreography of "the best way" to do the job:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management

None of these "scientists" knew anything about how to do the job, and critically, they never asked the workers why they used an "inefficient" technique to accomplish a task. Rather, Taylorists concerned themselves with getting workers to move like precision machines, transforming the factory floor into a stage upon which workers pantomimed "efficiency" for bosses who also didn't know how to do the workers' jobs.

If this produced inferior goods, or caused the workers pain by forcing them to repetitively move in injurious ways, that was a small price to pay. Bosses claimed they were buying improved efficiency, but what they were really after was reassurance: reassurance that the workers whom they relied upon were engaged in nothing more than a set of reducible, mechanical steps. Taylorized workers were required to act out a role in a play in which they were easily replaced, mindless appendages to the boss's skill, discernment and ambition. A Taylorized workplace is a colony organism whose brains are in the C-suite and whose busy workers are nothing more than drones and pismires.

AI is the apotheosis of this fantasy. A boss who lays hands upon an AI tool doesn't have to know how to draw a picture, balance books, or write technical documentation. They only have to prompt the production of these things. For bosses, AI is a great leveler: it is sold as a way to distill and package up the skill and discernment of workers and infuse them into a pliable automaton.

If you give workers instructions that reveal your ignorance, they might roll their eyes at you and make you feel bad about yourself. Even if they restrain themselves in the moment, they might make fun of you in the break-room later. To be the boss is to sit alone at your desk, haunted by the suspicion that you are not in the driver's seat, but rather, you are in the back seat playing with a Fisher Price steering wheel. AI is sold as a way to wire the toy steering wheel directly into the corporation's drive-train:

https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/05/fisher-price-steering-wheel/#billionaire-solipsism

Seen in this light, bosses' insistence that workers use AI makes perfect sense. Once you reassure yourself that your subordinates produce the things you need by prompting a model, you reassure yourself that you could do their jobs. At that point, you're not relying on their skill – you're doing them the favor of paying them to do a job that you're too busy and important to do, but which you could do. With AI, you can tell yourself that you're in the driver's seat, even if someone else has their hands on the wheel.

(Image: ArwinJ, CC BY-SA 3.0, modified)

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Hey look at this (permalink)

• LONG | PLAY https://longplayplatform.com/

• Prospect welcomes recognition agreement at Skyscanner Technology Ltd https://prospect.org.uk/news/prospect-welcomes-recognition-agreement-at-skyscanner-technology-ltd

• They stopped 57 shootings. Everyone was just fired. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgcfcRFrMYc&list=PLFVDwNAJdY2w

• No Country for Tech Bros https://thepointmag.com/politics/no-country-for-tech-bros/#

• VC isn’t VC anymore — understanding the rise of Cancer Capital https://www.anildash.com/2026/09/02/cancer-capital/

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Object permanence (permalink)

#20yrsago Changeling, a fairy tale of contemporary New York
https://memex.craphound.com/2006/09/14/changeling-a-fairy-tale-of-contemporary-new-york/

#20yrsago Sony’s rootkit disables CD drives when combined with AOL software https://web.archive.org/web/20071006050933/http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquirer/news/2006/09/14/sony-drm-woes-continue

#20yrsago Google’s new lobbyists: lying, astroturfing, push-polling scumbags https://web.archive.org/web/20071010112656/https://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/009776.php

#15yrsago New Jersey e-voting coverup https://blog.citp.princeton.edu/2011/09/13/nj-election-cover/

#15yrsago Stephenson’s REAMDE: perfectly executed, mammoth, ambitious technothriller https://memex.craphound.com/2011/09/14/stephensons-reamde-perfectly-executed-mammoth-ambitious-technothriller/

#10yrsago Class action suit: smart sex toys spy on their owners and transmit their masturbation habits https://web.archive.org/web/20160915002121/http://www.vocativ.com/358530/smart-dildo-company-sued-for-tracking-users-habits/

#10yrsago Leaked: damning Scott Walker dark money docs that judge ordered destroyed https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2016/sep/14/john-doe-files-scott-walker-corporate-cash-american-politics

#10yrsago The DoJ is using a boring procedure to secure the right to unleash malware on the internet https://web.archive.org/web/20160915072648/https://www.wired.com/2016/09/government-will-soon-able-legally-hack-anyone/

#10yrsago Edward Snowden sets out the moral case for a pardon from Obama https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/13/edward-snowden-why-barack-obama-should-grant-me-a-pardon

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Upcoming appearances (permalink)

• Naomi Klein: ‘Extreme wealth has a deranging effect. It turns you into a supremacist’ https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/sep/12/naomi-klein-extreme-wealth-has-a-deranging-effect-it-turns-you-into-a-supremacist

• Budapest: Brain Bar, Sep 17
  https://brainbar.com/munkatars/cory-doctorow

• Edmonton: Elbows Up (Edmonton Public Library), Sep 28
  https://www.epl.ca/blogs/post/elbows-up-with-cory-doctorow/

• Boston: The Paradox of Enshittification and Reverse Centaurs (Harvard Berkman Klein), Sep 30
  https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/running-harder-falling-faster-paradox-enshittification-and-reverse-centaurs

• South Bend: An Evening With Cory Doctorow (Notre Dame), Oct 6
  https://franco.nd.edu/events/2026/10/06/an-evening-with-cory-doctorow/

• Hudson, OH: Hudson Library, Oct 7
  https://engagedpatrons.org/EventsExtended.cfm?SiteID=3850&EventID=596952&PK=

• Calgary: Wordfest, Oct 8
  https://wordfest.com/2026/show/wordfest-presents-cory-doctorow-2026/

• Winnipeg: McNally Robinson, Oct 9
  https://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/event-18991/An-Evening-with-Cory-Doctorow

• Vancouver: Read, Resist, Repair, Rejoice (Vancouver Writers Festival), Oct 19
  https://writersfest.bc.ca/festival-event-2026/01

• Victoria: Munro's Books, Oct 20
  https://www.munrobooks.com/events/6113620261020

• Vancouver: Life After AI (Vancouver Writers Festival), Oct 22
  https://writersfest.bc.ca/festival-event-2026/46

• Ottawa: Life After AI (Ottawa Writers Festival), Oct 24
  https://writersfestival.org/event/life-after-ai

• Vancouver: BC Policy Solutions Gala, Nov 12
  https://bcpolicy.ca/gala/

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Recent appearances (permalink)

• Fascists may come after the AI bubble bursts (You&AI)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2WN64aQeYQ

• What Would a Normal Person Do (Trashfuture)
  https://www.patreon.com/trashfuture/posts/what-would-do-169247456

• Pod Save the UK
  https://audioboom.com/posts/8950533-radicalised-organised-and-thick-as-s-t-nish-has-had-it-with-far-right-protests-plus-why

• Stop Saying AI Can Do Your Job (Factually)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU3gABvwZCM

• Be Skeptical of the AI Sales Pitch (Trumponomics)
  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2026-09-09/trumponomics-cory-doctorow-questions-the-ai-hype-podcast

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Latest books (permalink)

• "The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book about being a better AI critic, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2026
  https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374621568/thereversecentaursguidetolifeafterai/

• "Canny Valley": A limited edition collection of the collages I create for Pluralistic, self-published, September 2025 https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/04/illustrious/#chairman-bruce

• "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 7 2025
  https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/

• "Picks and Shovels": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2025 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels).

• "The Bezzle": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (thebezzle.org).

• "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org).

• "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245).

• "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com.

• "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com

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Upcoming books (permalink)

• "The Post-American Internet," a geopolitical sequel of sorts to Enshittification, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2027

• "Unauthorized Bread": a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, April 20, 2027

• "Enshittification, Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It" (the graphic novel), Firstsecond, 2027

• "The Memex Method," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2027

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Colophon (permalink)

Today's top sources:

Currently writing:

• “Once Is Enemy Action,” a science fiction novel about the origins of modern technofascism. Today's words: 574 (7730 total).

• "The Post-American Internet," a sequel to "Enshittification," about the better world the rest of us get to have now that Trump has torched America. Fourth draft completed. Submitted to editor.

• A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING

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This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net.

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Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution.

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